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WO1996007977A1 - Appareil et procede de controle de l'integrite de l'eclairage d'un systeme cytologique - Google Patents

Appareil et procede de controle de l'integrite de l'eclairage d'un systeme cytologique Download PDF

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Publication number
WO1996007977A1
WO1996007977A1 PCT/US1995/010279 US9510279W WO9607977A1 WO 1996007977 A1 WO1996007977 A1 WO 1996007977A1 US 9510279 W US9510279 W US 9510279W WO 9607977 A1 WO9607977 A1 WO 9607977A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
variation
checking
comparing
predetermined
maximum
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US1995/010279
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
William E. Ortyn
Louis R. Piloco
Jon W. Hayenga
Original Assignee
Neopath, Inc.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Neopath, Inc. filed Critical Neopath, Inc.
Priority to AU33644/95A priority Critical patent/AU3364495A/en
Publication of WO1996007977A1 publication Critical patent/WO1996007977A1/fr

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
    • G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
    • G06V20/00—Scenes; Scene-specific elements
    • G06V20/60—Type of objects
    • G06V20/69—Microscopic objects, e.g. biological cells or cellular parts

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for evaluation of temporal and spatial variation of illumination in automated machine vision instruments. More specifically, the evaluation is conducted to characterize variations in global illuminance, static field intensity, dynamic field intensity, strobe repeatability, and intensity due to factors such as, for example, specimen thickness and cleanliness of system calibration hardware. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to automated instruments used for analyzing biological or cytological specimens, such as sputum samples, urine samples or pap smears. Discussion of the Prior Art
  • the present invention provides a method for checking system illumination in an automated cytological system comprising the steps of checking global illumination variation, static field uniformity, dynamic field uniformity, specimen thickness variation, strobe repeatability, calibration plate cleanliness, and strobe dropout.
  • Figures 1A, IB, 1C and ID show an automated cytology system and the placement of a calibration and test target into an optical path of an automated microscope as employed by the method and apparatus of the invention.
  • Figure 2 shows a histogram of global illumination variation.
  • Figure 3 shows an illustration of two illuminated fields as may be evaluated by a dynamic field uniformity test employed by the method of the invention.
  • Figure 4 shows an evaluation apparatus used in a strobe repeatability test method of the invention.
  • Figure 5 shows a high level flow diagram of one example of the method of the invention to check cytological system illumination integrity.
  • Figure 6 shows a flow diagram of one example of a global illumination test as provided by the method of the invention.
  • Figure 7 shows a flow diagram of one example of a method for checking static field of uniformity as employed by the method of the invention.
  • Figure 8 shows a flow diagram of one method of the invention for checking illumination variation due to specimen thickness variation.
  • Figure 9 shows a flow diagram of one method of the invention for checking strobe repeatability.
  • Figure 10 shows a flow diagram of one method of the invention for checking calibration plate cleanliness.
  • Figure 11 shows a flow diagram of one method of the invention for checking strobe drop out.
  • Figure 12 shows a flow diagram of one method of the invention for checking dynamic field uniformity.
  • FIGS. 1A and IB show a schematic diagram of one embodiment of the apparatus of the invention for checking illumination integrity for an automated microscope. While the method and apparatus of the invention will be discussed in terms of an example herein related to an automated cytology apparatus, it will be understood that the invention is not so limited. The features and principles of the invention may be applied to check urine analysis processes, semiconductor process defects, liquid crystal devices and other types of processing systems employing, for example, continuous arc lamps, filament lamps, laser sources, tube cameras, PIN diodes and photo ultiplier tubes.
  • the apparatus 500 of the invention comprises an imaging system 502, a motion control system 504, an image processing system 536, a central processing system 540, and a workstation 542.
  • the imaging system 502 is comprised of an illuminator 508, imaging optics 510, a CCD camera 512, an illumination sensor 514 and an image capture and focus system 516.
  • the image capture and focus system 516 provides video timing data to the CCD cameras 512, the CCD cameras 512 provide images comprising scan lines to the image capture and focus system 516.
  • An illumination sensor intensity is provided to the image capture and focus system 516 where an illumination sensor 514 receives the sample of the image from the optics 510.
  • the optics may further comprise an automated microscope.
  • the illuminator 508 provides illumination of a slide.
  • the image capture and focus system 516 provides data to a VME bus 538.
  • the VME bus distributes the data to an image processing system 536.
  • the image processing system 536 is comprised of field-of-view processors 568.
  • the images are sent along the image bus 564 from the image capture and focus system 516.
  • a central processor 540 controls the operation of the invention through the VME bus 538.
  • the central processor 562 comprises a Motorola 68030 CPU.
  • the motion controller 504 is comprised of a tray handler 518, a microscope stage controller 520, a microscope tray controller 522, and a calibration slide 524.
  • the motor drivers 526 position the slide under the optics.
  • a bar code reader 528 reads a barcode located on the slide 524.
  • a touch sensor 530 determines whether a slide is under the microscope objectives, and a door interlock 532 prevents operation in case the doors are open.
  • Motion controller 534 controls the motor drivers 526 in response to the central processor 540.
  • An Ethernet (TM) communication system 560 communicates to a workstation 542 to provide control of the system.
  • a hard disk 544 is controlled by workstation 550.
  • workstation 550 may comprise a Sun Sparc Classic (TM) workstation.
  • a tape drive 546 is connected to the workstation 550 as well as a modem 548, a monitor 552, a keyboard 554, and a mouse pointing device 556.
  • a printer 558 is connected to the Ethernet (TM) network 560.
  • the central computer 540 running a real time operating system, controls the microscope and the processor to acquire and digitize images from the microscope.
  • the flatness of the slide may be checked, for example, by contacting the four corners of the slide using a computer controlled touch sensor.
  • the computer 540 also controls the microscope stage to position the specimen under the microscope objective, and from one to 15 field of view (FOV) processors 568 which receive images under control of the computer 540.
  • FOV field of view
  • the calibration and test target 1 may be a clear piece of glass that is approximately 1.45 mm thick.
  • the calibration and test target advantageously comprises specified clear areas and image primitives such as horizontal and vertical bar targets.
  • Such calibration and test target plates are used for most transmission microscopes to simulate the optical path difference effects introduced by the substrate, coverslip and specimen media.
  • the calibration and test target 1 is positioned longitudinally away from a plane of best focus 2 to reduce the effects of flaws in the glass and contaminants 4 that may stick to the surface of the calibration and test target plate.
  • the cytological system illumination integrity checking method 100 includes checking global illumination variation at process step 10, checking static field uniformity at process step 12, checking dynamic field uniformity at process step 14, checking specimen thickness variation at process step 16, checking strobe repeatability at process step 18, checking calibration plate cleanliness at process step 20 and checking strobe dropout at process step 22. Each of these process steps will be explained in more detail hereinbelow.
  • Illumination sources typically employed in automated vision analysis instruments exhibit variations in energy output from one collected image to another collected image.
  • the arc is unconstrained and can vary spatially between flashes.
  • the combined effects of energy output variations and spatial variations may cause a variation of illuminance over the entire field of view from collected image to collected image.
  • the imaging device in order to approach optimal use of an imaging device, such as a CCD focal plane, the imaging device should be used as near as possible to its optimal dynamic range. That is to say, illuminance should be set at a level suitable for obtaining the optimal discrimination performance of the imaging device for the application.
  • FIG. 6 a flow diagram of one method of the invention for providing global illumination variation tests 10 is shown.
  • Global illumination tests are used to check the illuminance level of a light source, such as an arc lamp.
  • a calibration and test target is introduced into the optical path at process step 60 and positioned at process step 62.
  • the system illuminance is adjusted to an optimal level as may best be determined by an operator or automated system, for example.
  • a predetermined number of images are acquired at process step 64. In one example of the invention, about one hundred (100) images are acquired. Each image may comprise a 512 x 512 array of pixels that are 256 grey levels deep. The mean pixel value for each acquired image is computed and temporarily stored at process step 65.
  • mean intensity values are tabulated at step 66 in a histogram format like that shown in Table 1.
  • the left most column of Table 1 represents the mean intensity of the illuminated field in counts.
  • the right most column denotes the number of occurrences of the corresponding mean field intensity for the one hundred images acquired.
  • the center column represents a normally distributed variation with a mean and standard deviation similar to the actual data. It is only shown to demonstrate that the actual data varies in accordance with normally distributed population. Therefore, the data can be analyzed using standard statistical parameters.
  • Figure 2 shows a plot of the data in Table 1. It is apparent from Figure 2 that the variation behaves like a normal random distribution.
  • the maximum, minimum, mean and coefficient of variation for the distribution are determined at process step 67. These parameters are compared, in step 69 against engineered limits as shown in Table 2. A coefficient of variation of these mean values is determined at process step 69.
  • Camera dynamic range is defined herein as the mean of mean voltages for all images. Examples of engineering limits used in one example of the invention for checking global illumination variation are as follows.
  • the method of the invention for checking global illumination ensures the field of view is illuminated at the proper intensity and that the global intensity does not vary by more than the limits shown. Static Field Uniformity
  • FIG. 7 a flow diagram illustrating the method of the invention for checking static field of uniformity as employed by the method of the invention is shown.
  • the field of view illuminated in automated vision analysis instruments can vary in intensity at various points in the field due to misalignments, debris on optical surfaces, poor optical design in addition to other factors.
  • the spatial response of the detector such as a CCD camera, may also vary, exhibiting a behavior known as patterning. The totality of these variations may be referred to as static field uniformity.
  • a calibration and test target is introduced into the optical path at process step 72.
  • a single image is captured and a histogram is generated for the image pixels at process steps 73 and 74 respectively.
  • the maximum, minimum values and the coefficient of variation of the pixels are determined for the histogram at step 75.
  • the maximum and minimum variation is computed for 99.9% of the field-of-view by ignoring the 0.1% outlying pixels at the tails of the histogram. This value provides a measure of the field uniformity without the affects of stray pixels.
  • the variation factors are evaluated by comparing the coefficient of variation against a first predetermined limit 77, comparing the maximum variation ' against a second predetermined limit 78, comparing the partial field maximum variation against a third predetermined limit 79.
  • the illumination may vary dynamically from image to image.
  • the field may have a maximum static variation of 15 units.
  • the static uniformity may be also be 15 units. However, that 15 units may be evident in the opposite direction giving an actual non-uniformity of 30 units.
  • Figure 3 shows an illustration of two illuminated fields as may be evaluated by a dynamic field uniformity test employed by the method of the invention. In each of the two fields 302, 303 the pixel on the left 304, 305 respectively, maintained a value of 230. However, the intensity of the pixel on the right 307, 308 respectively differs by 30 counts between the ' fields. This represents a change in intensity of ⁇ 6.5%.
  • FIG. 12 shows a flow diagram of one method of the invention for checking dynamic field uniformity.
  • a calibration and test target is introduced into the optical path at step 1202.
  • Fifty images are collected and a histogram is generated for each image at steps 1203 and 1204.
  • the maximum, minimum values and the coefficient of variation are determined for each illuminated field at step 1205.
  • the maximum and minimum variation is computed for 99.9% of the field-of-view by ignoring the 0.1% outlying pixels at the tails of the histogram.
  • a difference is taken between the highest and lowest pixel values for all 50 images at step 1206. This value is divided by two times the mean to determine the +/- full field variations at step 1210.
  • the illumination system of Figure 1C is designed to operate with prescribed optical path distances.
  • specimens are usually mounted on a substrate and a coverslip is placed over the substrate.
  • the thickness of the substrate or slide, coverslip and mounting media may vary. These variations introduce a change in the optical path of the illumination system. These changes, if not carefully designed for, may degrade the illumination uniformity.
  • uniformity may degrade at the upper or lower end of the slide thickness range due to the same reasons as mentioned in the static field uniformity section. Although this degradation may occur at one or the other or both extremes, it may not occur at the nominal slide thickness. Therefore, illumination uniformity must be checked at the extremes of the designed operating limits.
  • the system is designed to accommodate a range of 1.0 mm to 1.9 mm of combined slide, mounting media and coverslip thickness variations.
  • Figure 8 shows a flow diagram of one method of the invention for checking specimen thickness variation.
  • a calibration and test target is introduced into the optical path 82. However, this time different parts of the calibration plate are used.
  • the calibration plate also contains clear areas that are 1.0 mm and 1.90 mm thick. These areas are used correspondingly to conduct the thickness test.
  • the static field uniformity test described above is run twice--once with a 1.0 mm thick slide and a second time with a 1.9 mm thick slide at process steps 84 and 86 respectively.
  • the coefficient of variation and maximum variation, for both the full and partial fields, are recorded for each slide thickness 88.
  • a second coefficient of variation and a second maximum variation, for both the full and partial fields, are recorded for the second slide thickness 182.
  • the results are evaluated by comparing the first coefficient of variation against a first predetermined limit 184, comparing the first maximum variation against a second predetermined limit 186, comparing the first maximum partial field variation against a third predetermined limit 188, comparing the second coefficient of variation against a fourth predetermined limit 282, comparing the second maximum variation against a fifth predetermined limit 284, and comparing the second maximum partial field variation against a sixth predetermined limit 286.
  • FIG 4 shows an evaluation apparatus used in a strobe repeatability test method of the invention.
  • a pulsed arc lamp, or strobe 412 for illumination is employed.
  • the strobe transmits light through optics 410.
  • a beam splitter 404 is positioned to receive the light to split the light into a first beam and a second beam wherein the second beam provides illumination to condenser lens 402 for a microscopic evaluation of the slide 1.
  • a detector 408 is positioned in an optical path defined by the beam splitter 404 and a second lens 408 to receive the first beam for providing a detected signal indicative of a first beam intensity.
  • the automated microscope may use the detected signal to adjust for illumination variations.
  • a running average of detected signals may be obtained and the detected signal may be adjusted for the running average. Aging of the strobe and drive electronics can cause a strobe to become unstable and vary the energy output from flash to flash. This variation is not unlike variations that may occur in other illumination sources.
  • the preferred embodiment shown comprises a double beam system where detector 406 comprises a PIN diode positioned to receive light from the strobe as light is split away from the main optical path of light directed toward the specimen. As shown, a beam splitter 404 is placed to split the light before it reaches the specimen.
  • FIG. 9 a flow diagram of one method of the invention for checking strobe repeatability 18 is shown.
  • Data from the strobe may be collected during the global illumination test at process step 92.
  • the maximum, minimum and coefficient of variation of strobe output is determined at process step 94.
  • the results are evaluated as follows according to Table 8 at process step 98.
  • the calibration and target plate advantageously has a specified clear area for calibration of pixel gain and offset.
  • the calibration plate is lowered to remove its surfaces from the focal plane of the objectives.
  • large debris on the calibration plate may be visible. This can cause an erroneous calibration.
  • the calibration plate dirt check test is run to check for this condition.
  • a calibration and test target is introduced into the optical path at process step 102.
  • the calibration and test target is moved about 50 microns in both x- and y- directions from its typical test and calibration position. This is done to highlight potentially contaminated areas that may be masked by the instrument pixel calibration.
  • An image is collected and a histogram is generated at process steps 106 and 108 respectively.
  • a coefficient of variation, for both full and partial field maximum variations are computed from the histogram data.
  • a maximum variation and a minimum variation are computed for a predetermined portion of the field-of-view by ignoring outlying pixels of the histogram so as to provide a measure of the calibration plate cleanliness. The results are evaluated by comparing the coefficient of variation against a first predetermined limit at step 1006, comparing the maximum variation against a second predetermined limit at step 1008 and comparing the partial field maximum variation against a third predetermined limit.
  • the method includes the steps of maintaining a running average of strobe intensity samples over a predetermined number of samples 1102, comparing each strobe intensity sample against a dropout limit 1104, counting each strobe intensity sample which does not meet the dropout limit as a dropout sample to obtain a plurality of dropout samples 1104, summing the plurality of dropout samples occurring during a predetermined event to produce a dropout sum 1108, and after the predetermined event, comparing the dropout sum to a dropout sum limit 1110.
  • a strobe lamp In operation, occasionally, a strobe lamp will generate arcs that are erratic in position or energy output. This type of behavior can cause the illumination system to produce a field of lower illuminance.
  • the strobe is constantly monitored. A running average of the strobe is maintained consisting of 500 samples. All samples taken that exceed 5% of the running average are considered drop outs. The strobe drop out monitor test sums these dropouts during a tray of processing (8 slides) , or roughly one hour. After processing a tray, the sum is compared to a limit. In this embodiment, the total of acceptable errant flashes is around 0.03%. The limit is evaluated against a standard as follows: strobe dropouts greater than 5%: ⁇ 30 dropouts per tray.
  • this invention comprises of a suite of tests and parameter monitoring scheme to characterize certain facets of illumination.
  • the above-described tests refer specifically to a system with a pulsed arc lamp and CCD imaging device.
  • the concepts may be employed to continuous arc lamps, filament lamps, LASER sources, tube cameras, TDI sensors, tube cameras and PIN diodes and photomultiplier tubes. What is claimed is:

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Abstract

Procédé de contrôle de l'éclairage (100) d'un système cytologique. Ce procédé comprend les étapes suivantes: on vérifie la variantion (10) de l'éclairage dans son ensemble, l'uniformité (12) du champ statique, l'uniformité (14) du champ dynamique, la variation (16) de l'épaisseur du prélèvement, la répétabilité (18) de l'impulsion stroboscopique, la propreté (20) de la plaque d'étalonnage et la perte de niveau (22) de l'impulsion stroboscopique. Une plaque d'étalonnage et une cible d'essai (524) sont employées pour divers contrôles de l'éclairage.
PCT/US1995/010279 1994-09-08 1995-08-11 Appareil et procede de controle de l'integrite de l'eclairage d'un systeme cytologique WO1996007977A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

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AU33644/95A AU3364495A (en) 1994-09-08 1995-08-11 Cytological system illumination integrity checking apparatus and method

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

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US08/303,179 1994-09-08
US08/303,179 US5715326A (en) 1994-09-08 1994-09-08 Cytological system illumination integrity checking apparatus and method

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US5991462A (en) 1999-11-23
US5715326A (en) 1998-02-03
US5991432A (en) 1999-11-23
US6067370A (en) 2000-05-23
US5995680A (en) 1999-11-30
US6011861A (en) 2000-01-04
AU3364495A (en) 1996-03-27

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